the end was just the beginning

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It’s never too late to get it back

It started at the crack of dawn. I dropped DD at the airport at 6am – he’s been almost constantly travelling for work this year. After watching “Up In The Air” on Saturday night I’ve given him a new nickname: “George.”

It sounds glamorous spending half your life staying in fancy hotels and drinking champagne in business class lounges, but the buzz would fade pretty quickly for me. I love slipping between the occasional five-star sheet set, but I’m not a huge fan of air travel and I like my home comforts.

Desperate to grab a few moments with DD, I also collected him from the airport on Saturday morning – he spent last week in China and Taiwan – to save him the $150 cab ride home. I figured we could have a nice chat during the hour’s drive home.

I forgot that no one really has a nice chat after an overnight flight from Taiwan. Well, twentysomethings with boundless energy might, but not tired, middle-aged people.

DD should really have stayed in Asia. It’s a bit crazy that he flew all the way home for just two nights. But he wanted to spend some time with his kids.

He’s in Osaka now, during cherry blossom season, lucky thing. Well, not entirely lucky, as he will be stuck in a conference most of the time. But hopefully he’ll glimpse some of the beauty from cab windows.

Anyways, I arrived home from the airport yesterday just after 7am and thought What now?

The kids were away with their dad.

I wasn’t working.

I was too sick to go to the gym.

The whole day stretched out before me with cheery options like clearing out the garage, doing the grocery shopping or walking the dogs …

While I pondered what to do with my free hours, I ate some Vietnamese leftovers for breakfast that I’d accidentally left in my car overnight.

Leftover Asian food for breakfast is THE BEST.

I was a bit scared the leftovers would kill me, but DD assured me I wouldn’t get food poisoning if I gave them a good nuking. Since he has a scientific background, I decided he was right and, if not, I could do with losing some weight.

No puking ensued, but it quickly became clear I was too crook with my cold/flu/virus to do anything much other than lie on the couch feeling sorry for both myself and Kevin Spacey in “American Beauty”.

Kevin plays a sad character called Lester in the movie. Lester’s wife hates him, his daughter Jane regards him with contempt and he loathes his job. Well, he loathes pretty much everything about himself and his life.

He kicks off the movie by saying: “My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood; this is my street; this is my life. I am 42 years old; in less than a year I will be dead. Of course I don’t know that yet, and in a way, I am dead already.”

He adds: “Both my wife and daughter think I’m this gigantic loser and they’re right, I have lost something. I’m not exactly sure what it is but I know I didn’t always feel this… sedated. But you know what? It’s never too late to get it back.”

Ouch.

And then, bang, just as Lester’s finally finding himself again, he’s dead.

Poor Lester.

Poor me.

Soooooo. Much. Snot.

(Poor DD … I snore A LOT when I’m congested …)

But the cold/flu/virus will pass.

Everything else will work out.

And Lester is right. It’s never too late to get back what you’ve lost.

METHOD: Mix 1 tablespoon of olive oil with 2 tablespoons of ras el hanout to form a paste. Rub over chicken pieces. Refrigerate two hours. Roast at 200C for 30 minutes. Toss veggies in remaining olive oil and add to the tray. Roast until tender. Add tomatoes, roast 10 minutes. Scatter with fresh herbs and goat’s cheese and serve. (With some harissa on the side, if you’re that way inclined.)